The Tigers earned a rematch with the 7th-ranked Houston Cougars by beating UCF Friday night in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference tournament in Fort Worth. Now 16-7, Memphis will likely need to upset the Cougars (22-3) Saturday afternoon to earn a long-sought NCAA tournament berth. Top-seeded Wichita State will face Cincinnati in the other semifinal.
The Tigers outscored UCF 16-8 over the game’s final five minutes after falling behind briefly (52-51) on a three-pointer by the Knights’ Darius Perry. Inside baskets by Landers Nolley and Boogie Ellis put Memphis up 62-56 with two minutes left and UCF wasn’t able to get closer than five points the remainder of the game.
D.J. Jeffries came off the bench and led the Tigers with 17 points, connecting on seven of 11 attempts from the field. DeAndre Williams added 16 points and Ellis scored 12. Nolley scored nine and pulled down 12 rebounds while Lester Quinones contributed seven points and a career-high 15 rebounds.
Memphis shot 39 percent from the field but hit 16 of 21 free throws.
The Tigers raced out to an 18-4 lead against the Knights — a team Memphis beat by a combined 41 points over two games in three nights last month — but UCF closed the deficit to four points (32-28) thanks largely to a 9-0 run shortly before halftime. The teams traded baskets for much of the second half before Perry’s trey gave UCF the lead. Perry finished with 15 points as UCF’s season ended with a record of 11-12.
Memphis guard Alex Lomax missed his fourth straight game with an ankle injury and is unlikely to see action in this weekend’s tournament.
The Tigers and Houston tip-off Saturday at 4:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPN2. The game will be played six days after the Cougars beat Memphis on a buzzer-beating heave from nearly 30 feet. It will be the biggest game — with the biggest stakes — since Penny Hardaway took over as Memphis coach before the 2018-19 season.
